1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital zoom apparatus applied to a digital camera, for example. More specifically, the present invention relates to a digital zoom apparatus which performs a zoom process in a predetermined direction on image data stored in a memory so that a plurality of pixels are assigned to each of addresses so as to generate zoomed image data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One example of conventional such a kind of digital camera is disclosed in a Japanese Patent Laying-open No.10-336573 laid-open on Dec. 18, 1998. According to this prior art, image data is stored in a memory so that four pixels are assigned to each of addresses, and zoom processing is started from a top pixel among four pixels assigned to any one of the addresses. However, the prior art is not prepared for successive changes in a zoom magnification, and therefore, a zoom start pixel becomes the top pixel of any one of the addresses in either zoom magnifications. Accordingly, in a case the prior art is directly applied to a digital camera which successively changes the zoom magnification, a change in the zoomed image becomes awkward.